CULTURE, SOCIETY AND POLITICS IN THE GERMANSPEAKING
COUNTRIES
Fall 2019 Session 2: Germany’s Federal System
Maya Hadar
IRE214
 Germany’s Federal System
 German Politics
 Political parties, coalition building,
current Parliament’s component,
regional elections’ results, etc.
Introduction to Germany2
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Germany’s Federal System
 Federal government (Bund)
 16 states (Länder)
 Bavaria > Bremen
 City States
Germany’s Federal System
 In Germany, political power is shared between the
central government and the governments of the 16
states
 Federalism => Territorial division of power
 10 states in the West
 6 states in the East
 The Länder are unique (historical traditions, dialects,
economy)
 State jurisdiction => education, law enforcement, etc.
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Germany’s Federal System
 Richest:
 Hamburg
 Bremen
 Bayern/Bavaria
 Hessen/Hesse
 Badden-
Wuerttemberg
 Poorest:
 Mecklenburg-
Vorpommern
 Saxony-Anhalt
 Thuringia
 Brandenburg
 Saxony
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 Most Populated:
 Nortdrhein-Westfalen (north Rhine- Westphalia)
 Bayern (Bavaria)
 Baden Würrtemberg
 Least Populated:
 Bremen
 Saarland
 Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (western Pomerania)
Area/Population
0
55000
110000
165000
220000
275000
Britain France Germany
area (square miles) population (in thousand)
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Area/Population
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Fiscal and Political Decentralization
Germany’s Federal System
* Federal govs
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 Central institutes of the Federal government:
 Bundestag (Parliament): Plural multi-party system
Germany’s Parliamentary System
 Bundesrat (Federal Council)
 Chancellor => Chief executive + head of state
 President => Ceremonial role (mostly)
 The German Basic Law (constitution) state that it is
a welfare state (unemployment benefits, state
benefits for the sick, poor & disabled)
The Bundestag
 The German Parliament
 Established b the Basic Law (Grundgesetz)
of 1949 => one of the 2 legislative
bodies and heir to the earlier Reichstag
 Proportional representation
(traditionally done in continental Europe)
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 Avoid fragmentation in the party system (lessons from the Weimar
Republic)
 Avoid the rise of extremists small parties
 Legislative branch
 598 base seats, now 709
 Directly elected by citizens every 4 years
 Members of the Bundestag elect the
Chancellor
 Parliamentary Democracy: leader of
the state (Chancellor) is elected by the
legislature, not directly by the people
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The Bundestag
 Hybrid electoral rules =>
 Constituencies (Left side): Choosing a
candidate to represent the district in
the Bundestag
 Similar to the American congress
 The candidate with the majority of the
votes wins
 299 constituencies in Germany (half
the seats in the Bundestag)
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The Bundestag
 Hybrid electoral rules =>
 Political Parties (right side)
 Choose a party at the federal level
 Parties put together lists of candidates
 Votes are aggregated nationwide
 Results determine which candidates
occupy the remaining 299 seats (party
representatives)
 Threshold: Parties need at least 5% of
the votes in a state to qualify for a
seat
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The Bundestag
 What if Germans split their votes?? vote for a candidate from one party
(to represent the district) and for a different party as ‘lead’ party?
 “Overhang” or “Balance Seats”- extra seats, which ensure that every
candidate who was directly elected gets a seat while political parties are
still proportionally represented based on the number of votes they received
 ‘Proportionally represented’? = size matters! The bigger the state, the
more seats the party gets in the parliament (the state’s population is taken
into consideration when votes are converted to seats)
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The Bundestag
 State’s represents in the Federal Level
 Each state (gov, not people) appoints
representatives
 69 seats (3 - 6 per state)
 Small states are overrepresented:
 Bremen, 700k people= 3 seats
 North Rhine Westphalia, 18 Million= 6
seats
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The Bundesrat
 State’s represented on the Federal Level
 Mainly concerned with laws that affect
the states (education & local government)
 The German vice president is also the
president of the Bundesrat
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The Bundesrat
 The Chancellor is the chief executive, head of
Government (Prime Minister)
 Sets governments’ policy
 Heads the Cabinet (recommends the formal
appointment/dismissal of ministers)
 Elected by the Bundestag (legislature)
 May be subjected to constructive Vote of No
Confidence (1982)
 Currently Angela Merkel (since 2005)
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The Chancellor
 The official head of state
 Usually a moderate
 Elected by the Federal Convention (federal assembly
or ‘Bundesversammlung’)
 Its sole purpose is to elect the president
 Consists of all Bundestag members and an equal
number of states delegates elected by the Länder
 5 years term, Re-electable only once
 Generally seen as “retirement office” or as a reward
for service
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The German Federal President
Frank-Walter Steinmeier
(since March 2017), SPD
(center-left)
 Has important “reserve powers” (Article 81 of the Basic
Law)
 In case of a legislative emergency, he has the
capacity to pass laws without the Bundestag’s
approval
 Represents Germany in matters of international law
 Concludes treaties with foreign states
 Signs all new/revised laws and can technically veto a
law on substantive constitutional grounds
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The German Federal President
Frank-Walter Steinmeier
(since March 2017), SPD
(center-left)
 Accredits diplomats
 Has the right to pardon criminals (federal crimes)
 Dissolves the Bundestag if a Chancellor loses a
motion of confidence
 Appoint/dismiss federal judges, military officers &
federal civil servants
 Mediator in cases of national emergencies
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The German Federal President
Frank-Walter Steinmeier
(since March 2017), SPD
(center-left)
Bundeskabinett/Bundesregierung
 Chief executive body
 Consists of the Chancellor & the federal
ministers
 Its composition is a major issue when
building a coalition
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The German Cabinet
 Cabinet ministers have the freedom to carry out their duties independently, but
must follow the Chancellor's directive
 Ministers may dismiss the Chancellor with constructive vote of no confidence
 Bundesminister
 Appointed by the president, based on the
recommendation of the chancellor
 6/16 women
 Education and research
 Environment, nature conservation & nuclear safety
 Family affairs, senior citizens, women and youth
 Food and agriculture
 Defense
 Justice and consumer protection (non German
parent)
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The Federal Ministers
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The Federal Ministers
 Hold advance degreed degrees
 5: PhD
 6: Political Science
 4: law
 3: economics/business
 2: M.D (1 Prof M.D)
 East underrepresented
 Saarland overrepresented
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Germany’s Federal System
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The Federal Constitutional Court
 Reviews the constitutionality of legislation
 Can limit the decision-making power of the
Bundestag
 Hears:
 Constitutional issues brought before it (also
by individuals)
 Cases referred to it by a lower court
 Federal/state governments or 1/3 of
Bundestag member can request review of
law
 Citizens are treated equally
 Citizens enjoy the freedom of
worship, speech, right to a fair
trial, education, to own
property, and the right to
security
 Citizens do not directly elect the
leaders (only the Bundestag)
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Citizen Participation & rights
Voter turnout, German general elections
 The 2 major parties are the CDU (Christian Democratic Union) and the SPD
(Social Democratic Party), but neither can easily achieve a parliamentary
majority
 Other parties include:
 CSU (sister party to the CDU)
 FDP (Free Democratic Party)
 Green Party
 Left Party (Die Linke)
 Since 1966, all federal governments consisted of at least two parties.
Currently, the CDU is in power in a coalition with the SPD
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German Parties
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German Parties- CDU
 The center-right ‘Christian Democratic Union of
Germany’ is the main conservative party in
Germany
 Originates in the Catholic Center Party, founded
after the WW2
 Traditionally supported by Catholics, nowadays
also by non-Catholics/atheists
 Merkel, CDU leader and Chancellor (since 2005) is a protestant who was
raised in former East Germany- last term in office
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German Parties- CDU
 Supports:
 Conservative social values
 Social market economy (free market +
ensuring social quality)
 Were part of 2 Grand Coalitions with the SPD
 CDU’s preferred partner is the FDP/Free
Democratic Party (1949–56, 1961–66, 1982–98, and 2009–
13)
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German Parties- SPD
 The center-left ‘Social Democratic Party of Germany’
originated in the 19-century labor movement
 Traditionally representing the working class, the
SPD is widely supported in industrial cities and by
protestants
 The SPD’s Party platform is social democracy,
supporting:
 Strengthened social market economy
 Welfare state
 Civil rights
 European integration
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German Parties- SPD
 Used to be Germany’s largest party until the last
decade
 Lost voters when the last SPD Chancellor made
extensive welfare cuts (early 2000s’) and later
when the left party was formed
 The CSU, ‘Christian Social Union of Bavaria’ is a sister party to CDU
 Generally more socially conservative than the CDU
 Founded in 1945, governed Bavaria since 1949
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Smaller German Parties
 CDU/CSU => had to unite according to German Federal Electoral Law
(parties who share the same basic political goals mustn't compete)
 Center-right Christian democratic political alliance
 Referred to as the ‘Union Parties’ (Unionsparteien)
or ‘the Union’
 The FDP is a liberal party founded in 1948
 Supports:
 Economic and social liberalism
 Free market economy
 Civil liberties and human rights
 Internationalism
 Ideology shift to the right (center => center-right)
 Has been the junior partner in coalitions with both
major parties (in power for longer than any other party)
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Smaller German Parties
 Supports:
 Alternative energy
 Sustainable development + green transport policy
 Mainly supported by higher income city dwellers
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Smaller German Parties
 The Alliance ‘90/Green Party, formed in 1993
 Corner issues => The environment & pacifisms
 Pacifism was dropped when the party joined the
Federal government in coalition with SDP (1998)
 Smallest party in the parliament
 Die Linke (the Left Party) was formed in 2007
 The most left-wing party in the Bundestag
 Second smallest party in the parliament
 Supports:
 Increased government public spending
 Higher taxes for corporations and high
earners
 Mainly supported by the older population
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Smaller German Parties
 German far right parties include:
 The neo-Nazi National Democratic Party (NPD)
 The nationalist German People's Union (DVU)
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Smaller German Parties
 The ‘Alternative for Germany’ is a right-wing populist & Eurosceptic
political party
 Founded in April 2013
 2013: 4.7%,, 2017: 12.6%
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Smaller German Parties
 October 2019 => German far right surges in eastern elections (Saxony +
Brandenburg)
 The AfD didn't win either state but achieved its best-ever results in both => A
strong message to Merkel's centrist coalition
 Saxony =>
 The AfD nearly tripled its 2014 result
 The CDU (ruled the state since German
reunification) finished first (32.1%), but lost
nearly one-fifth of its support compared with
2014 result
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Smaller German Parties
 The SPD, which has dominated Brandenburg’s
politics for 30 years, reached 26.2%, compared
with 31.95 in 2014
 Merkel’s party (CDU) won only 15.6% down
from 23%
 Results appear to confirm the fracturing of the
electorate in eastern Germany
 Brandenburg =>
 The AfD finished second behind the ruling SPD with 23.5% (up from the 12.2%
in 2014)
 The German Pirate Party (Piratenpartei
Deutschland) was founded in 2006 after similar
parties were founded in France and Sweden
 Broke through into national politics in 2011,
winning several seats at the state level
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Smaller German Parties
 Supports:
 Internet freedom (part of an international movement aimed at shaping
the “digital revolution”)
 Political transparency, direct democracy, anti-corruption
 Diminishing popularity, so far failed to win a seat at the federal level
Party financing/political finance in Germany =>
 The ‘Act on Political Parties’ regulates how parties are financed and the level
of public funding they receive
 The criterion for the distribution of these funds is the extent to which the
parties are rooted in society
 How many votes a party gained in the most recent European, Bundestag
and Land parliament elections
 The amount of money raised through members’ subscriptions, contributions
made by office holders and legally obtained donations
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German Political Parties
Party financing/political finance in Germany =>
 Funding mostly comes from membership dues and donations
 The German parties receive free campaign advertising on public television and
radio stations for European, national & local elections
 All major parties experienced a decrease in party membership in the early
1990s, possibly as a result of the increased general distrust of political parties
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German Political Parties
💶
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German Political Parties
Liberal Democrat Voice 2012
Trends in Party membership in Europe- low membership countries
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The Bundestag (2017-)
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 61,5 Million eligible voters could vote for the 19th German Parliament
Current Bundestag (2017-)
 3 Million first time voters
 299 constituencies (Wahlkreisen)
 4828 candidates representing 42 political parties
 The two big parties (CDU/CSU + SPD) suffered severe losses- second
worst and worst result ever (respectively)
 Many votes ‘went’ to smaller parties
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 A Political Shift/change of trend=>
 ‘Alternative for Germany’, a right-wing populist party won seats in the
parliament (first far-right party to do so since the 1950s’)
Current Bundestag (2017-)
 Merkel's (4th candidacy) CDU/CSU got
the most seats (no realistic coalition
without them)
 However, they only received 33%
support (no ‘majority’)- why? Discontent
with policies (immigration etc.)
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Forming a coalition =>
 All parties ruled out a coalition with the AfD
 The only options for a majority coalition
were:
 “Jamaican" coalition (CDU/CSU, FDP,
Green)
 A grand Coalition (CDU/CSU + SPD)
Current Bundestag (2017-)
 Coalition talks between the "Jamaican" parties broke, and for the first time
minority coalitions were seriously discussed
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Current Bundestag (2017-)
 President Steinmeier publicly called for the leaders of all parties to go
back to the negotiation table (first German President to do so)
 Finally, the CDU/CSU and SPD agreed to
renew the grand coalition and to reelected
Angela Merkel as chancellor
 Important to note => Remarkable Postwar
democratic consolidation
Next Session...
Reading Week => no session
 Marks, Hegel
 Luther’s Protestant reformation
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Thank You For Your Attention!